Titan's Reach
by darkwoofe
Summary: A RanmaSailormoon crossover. Ranma saves Akane from the same sickness that killed her mother, but it costs him something very dear to him. Pro & Part 1 revised. New 2
1. Prologue

Prologue 

Sailor Pluto sighed sadly to herself as she watched the young woman grimace with the pain of another contraction. This was a part of her job that she despised more than most of the others. She could and _had_ altered events to bring about battles and even wars, all to keep peace in the Moon Kingdom. But altering events to make the foolish kill each other was far different form what she was doing now. For now a child was about to be born, a child that she couldn't afford to let live. Worse still, a child who was supposed to be destined to be a Senshi, an ally against the many evils in the galaxy. A child she would be force to kill.

The current rulers of the moon world of Titan were once long, long ago before Setsuna had taken up the mantle of Senshi Pluto, the rulers of a planet called Nemesis. As with the other royal families in the solar system the first born daughter of the royal house of Nemesis was always chosen to become Senshi Nemesis, protector of her world and of the ruler of the Moon Kingdom along side her sister Senshi. But when Nemesis was without warning overcome by an age of ice the royal family gathered as many survivors as they could find and fled the frozen wasteland their home had become. As reward for their loyalty the High Queen of the Moon at that time offered the survivors of Nemesis a new world. And thus Titan, which had long stood abandoned because of the fear of Senshi Saturn, became the home of Senshi Nemesis and her people. In honor of her new home she took the name Senshi Titan and began to draw her power from this new world they had been gifted with as was only fitting, buy still kept close ties to her frozen home world as well.

And so now it was all firstborn princesses of the royal family form the Moon World of Titan who were destined to become Sailor Titan, Senshi of Chaos, Order, and Energy. But with the sudden disappearance of Chaos from the galaxy disaster had struck. It was discovered that the chaos energy that should have been so simple for Sailor Titan to control was in fact now completely random and uncontrollable. No one had known that chaos was such a vital part of everything in creation until the Sailor Titan of that era had begun to have problems controlling her power. In the end she had destroyed the planet of origin for her people, and five of her fellow Senshi while trying to defend the planet Nemesis from an out system entity intent on taken the frozen planet for its own. What had been left of the planet would later mostly become known as the asteroid belt, although a large chunk about the size of earth's moon retained the name Nemesis. After discovering the cause of such a devastating loss of control was the extremely low levels of chaos left in the universe, it was reluctantly decided that the Senshi of Titan were too unstable to be allowed to live. It fell to the past Senshi of Pluto and now to Setsuna to assure that none of the first-born girls of the royal family lived more than a few moments after their birth.

Over time the disappearance of chaos was forgotten by nearly all, as was the legend of Sailor Titan. The only ones to remember were the High Queens of the Luna, the Senshi of Pluto, who learned of it as part of her training, and the heads of the Royal Family of Titan.

Queen Sakura looked up from her newborn the joy on her face quickly fading into dread as Sailor Pluto entered the Royal Birthing Chambers. "Setsuna" she greeted the Senshi warily.

"You know why I'm here," Setsuna told the small woman before her, and keeping her own face impassive while on the inside her own grief was becoming unbearable. She didn't like what she had to do, but it was a task that she had done far too often before and would have to continue to do for a long time to come as had all the Plutos who came before her. She _would not_ let her emotions sway her from her task.

"I...I won't let you!" Sakura challenged. "_I forbid this_," she hissed at her longtime friend.

"I cannot allow that child to live. You know what will happen if she does." countered Setsuna.

Queen Sakura clutched the child desperately to her as Setsuna wearing her Pluto Face closed in. "What if there were another way?" Sakura asked, her voice filled with panic.

Pluto sighed, "We both know there is no other way. The firstborn daughter always inherits the power of Titan and that power is uncontrollable. If she were allowed to live she would cost countless lives. Believe me, if there was a viable alternative it would have my full support and undoubtedly that of the Queen as well," she told the distraught mother. Even to this day, the Luna Queens put an enormous amount of effort into finding a way to regain control of Titan's power. Unfortunately there was little progress and if this child or any other of Titan's first born daughters ever assumed the power of Senshi Titan, there was little doubt that the damage would be colossal.

"But that's just it!" the red haired Queen exclaimed in triumph, "What if she were no longer a girl? She wouldn't have any power and she...he'd be able to go on and live a full life!" she told Pluto.

Setsuna stopped beside the bed with a thoughtful look on her face. _It couldn't hurt to try it_ she thought _If it doesn't work I can always kill the child later, and if it does I'll never have to kill Titan's Senshi again_ That decided thought alone made up her mind, and with research help from some of the kingdoms top mages the baby girl was soon after changed into a baby boy and grew up to have a full and happy (if somewhat chaotic) life as did all future firstborn princess of Titan.


	2. Chapter 1

Part One

(Seventeen Years Ago)

The green haired doctor's lips moved silently as she watched the woman bear down and push. This time the baby's head appeared covered in a shock of fine red hairs. As the newborn finally arrived into the world the doctor announced her as a healthy baby boy and then continued to move her lips silently reciting a spell learned many lifetimes ago. And the baby she handed to the mother was indeed a healthy baby boy with fine black hair with just the slightest hint of a quickly fading red.

Setsuna smiled down at the new mother and her child. "Have you decided on a name?" she asked.

The woman looked up from the baby and smiled back, "If he had been a girl we had decided on Saotome Ranko, but since it's a boy we'll name him Saotome Ranma" she answered.

"I'm sure he'll make you proud" Setsuna told the woman with a smile as she left the room. If she hadn't been so happy with the fact that there was another firstborn princess of Titan's Royal family that she hadn't been forced to kill, she might noticed the symbol of Titan shinning on the child's forehead and looked into the girl turned boy's future. But she was too used doing as she had today, and so she didn't expect that things would be any different this time around.

(One-Week Ago)

Ranma marveled at the speed of Akane's recovery. She had gone from not being able to feed herself to back to breaking bricks in the dojo in less than a month. No matter what the price of the cure, seeing Akane up and about again was more than worth it. Even if the cost was turning out to be more than he had originally thought it would be.

_Things between them had improved greatly after they had returned from China and their idiot fathers' attempt at a forced wedding. Things had quickly calmed down but had -_not_- returned to normal._

_Ranma had put extra effort into being nice to Akane while Akane had stopped hitting Ranma with her mallet for every imagined slight. Slowly the two had begun to express their feelings for each other and started acting like two young people in love rejoicing in their feelings for each other. Their joy however didn't last very long. Two months after the wedding attempt, Akane became sick. The doctors at the hospital and Dr. Tofu who'd been located in hopes of him knowing a cure all confirmed that Akane had the same wasting disease that had killed her mother so many years ago and that there was no known cure._

_Devastated, Ranma had gone to the one other person who might have known of a way to cure Akane, Cologne. He had offered her the one thing that she would not have been able to refuse...himself._

_Of course, being who she was she had tried to make it difficult. 'Why should I help great granddaughter's greatest rival?' the shriveled crone had asked dismissively._

_Ranma's reply had been simple and to the point, 'Because if you don't I promise I ain't never gonna have anything to do with you, Shampoo, or your stupid Amazons ever again' his tone had left little doubt in Cologne's mind that son in law meant exactly what he said._

_After a few more token arguments Cologne had tried to help but only after she had made Ranma promise that if she could cure Akane that he would marry Shampoo and return to China to follow Amazon rules and law. Fortunately for Ranma there nothing the old Amazon could come up with worked well enough to call it a cure. The best she had managed was to ease the girl's suffering somewhat._

_And so Ranma had set off on a journey to find a cure for his beloved. After nearly three months of travel he had found the answer he needed in the form of an enchanted ring that would grant any wish in exchange for something it considered of equal value to the wish made._

_A wet and ragged Ranma-chan had made it into the Chamber of the Ring after wading through creatures out of his worse nightmares that had stood guard around and on the inside of the castle where it had been hidden. She had told the Ring her wish and it had told her the price of the wish._

_'I will save your betroved for something of equal value' came the voice in Ranma's head. 'Normally a wish of this kind would cost your life, but I see you carry something just as valuable inside you. Akane will be saved if you will give me your male body'._

_For the first time since she began her quest Ranma had hesitated. Her manhood had meant everything to her for as long as she could remember, but as she thought about what was at stake she felt shame at her hesitation. A life, any life but especially that of Akane was worth more than her pride. For Akane, she decided that no price was too much to pay. And so Ranma-chan had returned to Nerima with a vial containing Akane's cure and a permanently female body. Also on the plus side, it seemed that the part of the curse that seemed to attract water had left along side her male form_

Of course she had known even as she made her deal that there would always be a chance that Akane wouldn't be able to love her now that she was stuck as a girl. She had comforted herself with the knowledge that even if it came to that, at least Akane would live.

As Akane had recovered, she had noticed that things were taking a turn for the worst as far as their relationship was concerned. And earlier today her fears had proven true. The reason that Akane was in the dojo and Ranma-chan on the roof was because Akane had broken up with her.

'I'm so sorry Ranma, I tried' Akane said sadly, her eyes locked on the floor in an effort to avoid Ranma's. 'I love you so much, but…I can't be with you like this, as a girl. I've tried to get over it but...I can't help but feel that it's wrong.' She had told the redhead

Looking back on it, it became obvious that everyone except the fathers had seen what was coming. Kasami and even Nabiki in her own understated way had been sympathetic all day and had made themselves scarce right before Akane had come to her for a talk.

The worse part was that Ranma hadn't been able to argue with her. What girl could ever love him...her now that she was a girl herself? Her mother had been surprisingly understanding about the whole thing and had offered to let Ranma move back home with her now that her home in Juban was repaired. Genma of course had gone out of his way to pretend that his son turned daughter didn't exist after Nodoka had shot down his plans for forcing 'Ranma-chan' to marry Soun.

And so tomorrow the two would start their move into Ranma's new home. Who knew? Maybe it would do her some good to get away from the mess that her life had become since her arrival in Nerima. But the main reason she had been so eager to leave was because being so near to Akane and knowing that they'd never truly be together would most likely have killed her if she had chosen to stay. As things were, the two had promised to write and visit after things settled down a bit. _Akane as just a friend is better than no Akane at all_ she thought before going in at Kasumi's call that dinner was ready. She figured that if she told herself that often enough that sooner or later she'd even believe it.

(Present)

Meiou Setsuna was in her office sipping a cup of tea when she felt it. She didn't really pay it that much attention, as she knew exactly what the feeling was. Or at least she thought she did until she called for whichever of the scouts that was outside of her door to come in before they could even knock.

So it wasn't too surprising when she nearly choked on her tea when the door opened and in walked a woman she had last seen seventeen plus years ago followed by a girl who looked remarkablely like her. There was no question that the duo were mother and daughter, but the surprising thing was that the daughter felt to her mind the same way one of the Senshi felt whenever they were near.

As soon as the woman had registered her daughter, one Saotome Ranma, and left, Setsuna transformed and went to check the history of the girl at the time gates. What she saw of the young girl/boy/girl's life left her horrified and angry beyond anything she had ever felt before. The only reason she didn't immediately hunt down Genma Saotome and kill him was because the fat fool had inadvertently given her what she felt was a hint of hope. With the defeat of Sailor Galaxia, Chaos had returned to the galaxy. And with its return perhaps Sailor Titan could return to the ranks of the Sailor Senshi. Still, the panda man was due some serious pain as soon as she could arrange it.

As she checked the Time Gates to see what effect this unexpected turn of events would have on Crystal Tokyo even she was amazed at the difference one person had made to the time stream. Crystal Tokyo was now only a small possibility. Oh the city was there in a lot of timelines, but it was no longer the center of the timelines it was in. Now she and the other Senshi had a chance of achieving something truly wonderful. While it would mean more battles, the return of humanity to space and the birth of Kingdom that made even the best times of the Moon Kingdom pale in comparison would be more than worth it. She just hoped that Usagi agreed with her or she would have to kill Saotome Ranma to put the timeline back on track and after surviving her father the girl/boy/girl deserved better than to die for a kingdom she knew nothing about and would never see.

The reactions of the other Senshi were much as she'd anticipated they would be. After telling the others the story of Titan's royal family and of Sailor Titan, she went on to tell them of her part in the story, coming very close to tears although she hid it well, and how that led to one Saotome Ranma, although she didn't tell them the name. She told them the story of the girl's life from birth to present and went on to tell them some of what she had seen at the time gates. Then she sat back and awaited the pandemonium that she knew was about to erupt.

Usagi's first concern was of course Chibi-Usa, "What about Small Lady?" she asked, "Will she still exist? Will trying to bring about this new Kingdom harm her in any way?" Her anxiety for her future child was very evident.

"Chibi-Usa will be fine" Pluto assured her. "In fact, if we do this she will be born a great deal sooner than she would have been in the Crystal Tokyo timeline" she told her princess.

"I'm not too sure about this," said Haruka. "We've made too many sacrifices for Crystal Tokyo to just walk away from it when we're almost there. Is this new Senshi really worth the risk you're asking us to take?" Michiru nodded her agreement to her partner's worries. No one was too surprised at this reaction from the two Outers, as they had both given up a great deal and done things that they would have never done otherwise, all for the future that would be Crystal Tokyo. To see that pulled away from them nearly as soon as it had come into reach and after all everyone had gone through, would cause anyone to be reluctant to deviate from the known path.

"Whichever choice we decide upon, your sacrifices will not have been in vain," Setsuna answered empathically meeting both the girls' eyes. "We would never have made it far enough to even be having this conversation if the two of you had not been willing to give so much of your hearts and souls for our princess and our cause. Whatever else happens, I will not let that effort be in vain.

"However, were it not for the survivors of the Dark Kingdom's attack on Titan, I can assure you that none of this would have been possible. When Queen Serenity defeated Beryl and sealed Metallia away with the Ginuzuishou, she did not completely end the war. She merely removed the most dangerous elements of a huge army of lesser demons, youma, and the malcontents of Earth. This caused a pause in the battles as the strongest of Beryl's generals that had escaped death fought each other for the right to take her place and the survivors of the first wave of attacks tried to adjust to the fact that for the first time in remembered history, there were no Senshi and no Queen to protect them… In the end it was Beryl's brother by adoption, Ken who proved strongest of her generals and he wasted no time in killing off his rivals and replacing his sister.

"He took Beryl's place as the leader of the Dark Kingdom, however, where Beryl's intent had always been freeing Metallia and conquest of bringing the world of the Sol System under her control, her brother, Ken's intent was nothing short of pure madness. Ken's intent was to destroy all life that exists anywhere in the Sol system, other than that of those who came from Earth. He believed that anyone not born on Earth was inferior and that by letting them stay in the same solar system that they would contaminate the pure blooded Earthlings. Unfortunately, it was all to easy for him to convince others on Earth of their superiority in the universe.

"Meanwhile, with most of their armies destroyed trying to defend the Queen and the kingdom the few worlds that had survived Beryl's initial assaults were helpless before the remaining might of Ken's followers. I did what I could to help them fight, but even with my help and their forces combined there was little we could do to stop Ken with the resources he could draw upon from the Earth. I didn't know it until many years later when I used the time gates to look back upon these and other past events of Titan's Royal family, but the queens of Titan had long ago urged their people towards the practice of the Martial Arts as a substitute to the loss of Sailor Titan. Although the people remembered very little of the long vanished Senshi of Titan, it was the wish of their queen for them to be strong and defend both their world and the innocent who were unable to defend themselves. The people loved and respected the royal family and so they did as they were asked without too much trouble regardless of their belief that the Senshi would always be there to protect them.

Over time many great fighters and various oftentimes, strange fighting techniques were developed. Nearly everything, from housework to eating, became a form of martial arts to these people. As the people of Titan grew stronger, none were as focused on doing so as the royal family. To them it had become something of a private challenge, and they stepped up to it by taking their skills to an unbelievable level for unenhanced humans. The most powerful of them were more than likely a match for any one of you before the Black Moon family attacked," Setsuna added, looking at each of the inner scouts.

"Knowing there was no way to win against Ken and the Earth, the survivors of the attack on Titan volunteered to hold the enemy in check for as long as they could while as many refugees as possible were snuck onto Earth which oddly enough was the safest place for them to be. The time brought with the lives of the people of Titan's distraction was the only reason your ancestors survived" Setsuna said, her gaze passing over all the gathered girls. "The price they paid for their heroism was that less than a hundred people out of forty million made it from Titan to Earth alive. Only one of the survivors was of the Royal family and she lived only because her people refused to allow her to fight when it was discovered that she was pregnant.

"Outraged at being held up by people who lived on such an insignificant Moon World, Ken used a forbidden enchanted weapon to destroy the magical barriers that made most of the other worlds of the solar system livable. Upon Mars and Venus, the only two other worlds that didn't need the barriers he unleashed a bio weapon that ate every sign of life. He assumed that the people on all those worlds died and we encouraged this belief as best we could, so that he made no effort to search for them on Earth," she finished, she finished as she took another sip of her tea.

Makoto spoke into the silence that followed, "If they really sacrificed so much to help others, they're just like us. It would be wrong of us to not take this chance to help them" she told her friends. "Besides, I'd love the chance to visit Jupiter and when we win I'll eventually be able to," she added confidently.

Rei nodded, "I think that Makoto's right. We should give this Sailor Titan a chance at least. Although I don't see how having one more Senshi will get us back into space" she said as she looked over to Ami with a slight frown as if hoping she'd have an answer.

"I couldn't even start to calculate the odds of this succeeding," said Ami as she reached over and took Rei's hand in her own giving a slight squeeze. "But for a chance to go into space and to walk on other worlds, whatever they are they're odds I can't pass up" she added seeming to have gained spirit from the contact.

Next up was Minako, who Setsuna had notice had been glaring at her since about halfway through the story. "What is it, Mina-chan?" she asked the girl.

Minako's eyes narrowed as she answered, "You've said more just now than on our last date!"**A.N. There's a story in here somewhere. I might even get to it one day** the accusation in her voice was plain for all to hear. Michiru who had been watching as the blonde had gotten ever more peeved at the time guardian broke into a quickly cut off spat of giggles at the look on Setsuna's face.

Setsuna sighed, _'Why is it that she's the only one I can't predict?'_ She thought. '_I guess that's one of the reasons I love her_' Putting on her most adoring face she said, "But Mina-chan, I enjoy being with you so much that I don't really feel the need to say much." Of course, the sad thing was that it was true. She batted her eyes and in her sweetest voice asked, "Didn't we have fun together?"

Minako looked thoughtful for a while and then slowly a smile spread over her face and she nodded shyly. Then as if nothing had happened she said, "I'm with Rei, Ami, and Makoto. I know that we are up to any challenge that the universe decides to throw our way. If the inner and outer Senshi all works together we'll be unstoppable. And Sailor Titan is one of us. It wouldn't feel right just abandoning her."

"Since everyone else is in I guess we are too" Michiru said after receiving a reluctant nod. Haruka was not one to let her honor slip if she could help it, and it was becoming clear that giving this new Senshi a shot was a matter of honor. "But I think we should try to keep Hotaru out of the battles unless she's absolutely necessary. She hasn't gotten much better than when we first met her." Everyone knew she was referring to the younger girl's failing health.

"I had forgotten about that!" Setsuna exclaimed suddenly. "The Senshi of Saturn has a great deal of raw energy constantly moving through their bodies. Far more than any of the other Senshi! But while not nearly as powerful as Saturn, Sailor Titan may be able to help regulate the energy of Sailor Saturn. Come to think of it, it wasn't too long after Titan vanished that the Saturn of that time began to become ill and all the Saturns that followed her were born sickly. I'll have to look farther into it of course, but perhaps with the return of Sailor Titan, Hotaru could very well start to get better! Still let us not say anything to her about this, just in case it's nothing" Any doubts Michiru or Haruka had were promptly put aside at the thought of a possible way of helping the young girl they had taken as their daughter. While Hotaru's health hadn't gotten any worse, there seem to be nothing anyone could do to improve it either.

"How about you Mamo-chan?" Usagi asked, "Will you help us?"

Mamoru gently squeezed her with the arm he had around her shoulders, "It seems like the right thing to do" he told her. "And you know I'd follow you anywhere, Usagi" he added as he placed an affectionate kiss on her forehead. "Besides, if this girl used to be a guy she may have problems adjusting to being treated like a girl. She'll need a friend who can understand what she's going through."

Usagi's smile lit the room and warmed the hearts of her friends. "It's agreed then. Just tell us how to help Setsuna!" she said.

Setsuna smiled back as released a tension she hadn't been aware of holding until it was gone and told them, "For now we just go on with our lives. The girl who will become Titan has already made her appearance and soon a new enemy will arrive as well. Until then all we can do is be ourselves" she told them.

"But…but aren't you going to tell us who she is?" asked Minako, confused.

Smiling a smile that said she knew something they didn't, Setsuna replied with a simple, "No" and faded from sight. The indignation that followed her leave-taking was something else that went exactly as she'd predicted.


	3. Chapter 2

Part Two

Nodoka smiled as looked on her daughter/son. Even in the short time since she'd been reunited with her child she had noticed how quickly he/she was growing. What had once been an unbelievably cute young girl was fast becoming an incredibly beautiful young woman, much to said young woman's dismay. She knew that the chances of her every having grandchildren at this point was nearly non-existent, but the sacrifice Ranma had made for someone he loved would ensure that if the Saotome line died out, they would at least die out with honor. Not that she had completely given up the hope of having grandchildren. Although she knew there was pretty much no chance that Ranma would _ever_ like a man enough to have sex with him, in these modern times there were alternative methods for a woman to get pregnant. Added to that was the fact that with the way Ranma's life went, it wasn't too unlikely that _something_ would come along to make the impossible happen.

Seeing her standing there defiantly in the Juban High's boy uniform Nodoka didn't have the heart to explain to her that the uniform was enhancing her feminine features and beauty rather than making them unnoticeable as Ranma obviously was hoping it would. "Are you sure that you want to wear a boy's uniform, Ranma?" she asked, being very careful not to add the chan to Ranma's name as she was naturally inclined to do.

Ranma gave what should have been a masculine grunt, but instead completed the picture of a pretty tomboy dressed in her brother's clothes, "No way anybody's getting me to wear the girls' uniform!" she stated firmly. "It's bad enough that I have to wear one at all," she grumbled.

Nodoka sighed. Kasami had warned her to expect this type of reaction. "I'm sorry, Ranma dear, but the rules of all of the schools in this area are very strict and of them all, only Juban was flexible enough to allow even this much," she told her new daughter with real regret. Even Juban wouldn't have allowed Ranma to wear the boy's uniform if it hadn't been for the nice guidance councilor Nodoka had spoken with. After hearing Nodoka's story, not only had she made a few exceptions for Ranma, but she had also suggested a very good divorce lawyer whom she said she'd speak to if Nodoka decided to divorce Genma. Not that she was planning to do that. The man was a fool, but she _did_ love him.

While she was disappointed with the fit of her uniform, Ranma still considered it the lesser of two evils. The sports bra her mother had insisted on wasn't nearly as bad as she thought it'd be either and it tight enough that while still noticeable, her breast didn't seem nearly so…healthy as they usually did. Still, she wished that she could get this stupid thing to hide her current gender like Ucchan was able to do.

_'Better than that stupid skirt I guess'_ she thought. For the first time in her life, she was actually nervous about starting a new school. She was sure that this newfound case of nerves was the result of going to school as a girl, without the ability to change back to a boy. She had grown used to her female form during her time with the Tendo family, but before she'd almost always had the knowledge that being a girl was only a temporary thing. She no longer had that luxury.

A pair of warm arms encircled her form behind. "I know this is hard for you, Ranma," Nodoka said gently. "But I want you to know that I've never been more proud of you than I was when I heard what you had done to save Akane's life. Never doubt that you made the right choice or that son or daughter, I will always love you."

Ranma fought back tears that she'd been holding in check for so long. Even for someone who had put up with what she did on a daily bases, loosing her male form and Akane was taking an emotional toll. But, girl or no, she _would not_ cry! Nor would she give up hope of getting her male body back one day. "Thanks Mom," she told the older Saotome.

"Now off with you," Nodoka said as she gently pushed her towards the door. "Being late on your first day will give your teachers a bad impression of you," Not the being on time was likely to help, with what Ranma decided to wear. But in the end, it would probably turn out to be best if Ranma learn what she'd likely be putting up with for the rest of her life, if she remained a she.

The school looked like any other high school in the area did at this time of the morning; with children arriving via bus, bike, and walking. Many of the arriving students stopped to stare as the pretty redhead dressed in the school's boy uniform walked up to the school easily keeping her balance as she walk along the top of the wall surrounding the school.

Ranma silently ground her teeth as her exceptional hearing allowed her to catch enough of what was being said about her to know that most of it wasn't good. The girls mostly stuck to name calling and mocking laughter, things she had had to deal with all of her life as part of Genma's train method and thus more easily ignored than the whispering of the boys who were talking about what they wanted to do with her and how one night with them would help her change her obviously wrong ways. The only thing that prevented her from knocking a few heads together was that she'd promised her mother that she'd at least try to make a good first impression. She hopped down into the schoolyard without breaking stride and continued on into the building doing her best to ignore what she was hearing and wondering if Akane was indeed right and all boy were perverts.

"Good morning! You must be new here," said that a voice that was far too cheerful for someone that had to go to school on a beautiful day like today. Ranma looked up to see a girl with hair that was maybe a shade or two more red than her mother's speaking to her. "Councilor Meiou asked that I wait for you and show you to your class. My name is Osaka Naru," she said with a slight bow.

"Saotome Ranma" Ranma replied with a bow of her own. "Uh, why are some of the students wearing different uniforms?" asked the girl.

"Oh, that. Well the people in the green plaid uniforms used to go to Mugan Academy, a school the gifted," Naru explained as she began to lead Juban's newest student toward her classroom. "But Mugan was destroyed during a really big battle involving the Sailor Senshi. It turned out that some of the students were making monsters and sending them out to steal people's heart crystals or something like that. After the sailor senshi stopped them, there wasn't much of the school left and Sensei Tomoe announced that he wasn't going to rebuild it, so the students that used to go there were divided among the local normal schools."

Upon hearing of a fight that had completely destroyed a school, Naru had Ranma's undivided attention. It was beginning to sound like Juban wouldn't be nearly as boring as she thought it might be. "So, these Sailor Senshi are a group of fighters who go around fighting monsters and stuff?" she asked.

Naru wasn't too surprised to learn that Ranma didn't know who any of the Sailor Senshi were. It wasn't the first time she'd met someone from another district that didn't know about them. While no one in Tokyo would deny that they were very real, it wasn't often that the any of the Senshi were seen outside of the Juban area. That combined with the fact that there was almost no actual footage of the team lead to very short stories about them when they did make the new or the papers.

"Actually, they're Magical Girls who are each named after one of the planets, except for Sailormoon of course. She's the leader of the Senshi. They've save me from youma attacks all too often it seems," she added sadly. "Well, this is your class. I need to get to mine before bell, so if you really want to know more about the senshi, just ask around. Almost everyone around here thinks that they're the expert on them," she said more cheerfully. "Good luck!" she called and was off, down the hall before Ranma could protest.

Ranma once again noticed that she was the center of attention as she entered the classroom and waited next to the teacher's desk for the first class to start. She ready herself for what she knew was coming as a fairly tall blonde boy in the Mugan uniform got up from the desktop of a green-haired girl in the girl version of the same uniform and approached her.

"Tenouh Haruka," he introduced himself.

Ranma nodded politely back, "Saotome Ranma," and watched as the boy's eyes widened slightly in surprise.

Haruka had immediately recognized the name the pretty redhead called herself. Saotome Ranma was a legend in Martial Arts circuits all around the world, although more so in the eastern world. "You're _the_ Saotome Ranma!" she asked a bit more loudly than she had intended. Everyone who been causally eavesdropping gave up all pretense of not listening in. **A.N Ranma doesn't realize that 'he' is really a 'she'**

Ranma rubbed the base of her neck and pulled on her pigtail somewhat embarrassedly, "The one and only as far as I know," she answered. The listeners started whispering among themselves. Some were asking just who was Saotome Ranma going into details of her life that she didn't think most people would even know about. Some of the boldest even began to ask her questions.

"Are you really a dojo destroyer?

"I heard she defeated the all city kendo champion on a every morning before school…"

"Isn't Saotome Ranma a boy?" Ranma resisted the urge to shout, 'I'm a guy, damnit!'

"I heard she was dating four girls and three boys all at the same time…" that one caused a large sweat-drop and a shutter as Ranma tried to imaging _that_ happening.

"…no wonder she dresses and talks like a boy."

"Hey! I'm right here, ya know!" Ranma protested, causing the mummers to die down. Mostly everyone went back to pretending they weren't listening.

"Is it true?" Haruka couldn't resist asking. After hearing Setsuna's story it wasn't too hard to guess that this was who she'd been telling them about and so she knew all about the curse that was causing some confusion among the other students.

"Is what true?"

"That you were dating four girls at once, of course."

After a bit of grumbling, Ranma answered, "Only when they forced me, or tricked me. They're my Iinazuke and there are only three of them." She was doing her best to ignore the way the rest of the class leaned toward them upon hearing this information. And the somewhat vacant grin on Haruka's face as she stared off into space was a bit disturbing as well. Ranma could have told her that it wasn't anything like she was imagining, but…_'Why ruin his fantasy?'_ she thought.

Before Haruka recovered from her dream world, regardless of being hit with ball of paper by the girl she'd been sitting with, the teacher came in and after having Ranma introduce herself, class began.

_It had picked up the signature off and on a little, over the last two years. But this time was different. The signature was stronger this time and for the first time it had stayed active for more than a few weeks at a time. While the other times it had detected the signature had been dismissed as glitches or flair ups in the power of a particularly powerful descendants of the royal family, the fact that this one had been active for so long gave it hope that this time it was the real thing. Best of all, this time, the signature stayed active long enough for it to send a probe for better readings and confirm that what had been detected was real. Upon learning that the readings were indeed accurate, it started a series of preprogrammed actions along with a few actions it's programming hadn't covered._

_A thousand feet above the surface of the now dead world of Titan a great fortress faded into view for the first time in over a hundred thousand years. Once completely back into normal space-time, Fortress Titan began to cast the preprogrammed restoration spells meant to once again bring life to the surface of Titan and rebuilding the Royal Palace and Capital City. Fortress Titan was the property of Senshi Titan, while the Queen of Titan and the rest of the Royal Court live at the palace. And thus with the birth of a new first princess, the Fortress was once again becoming active._

_The AI that commanded the fortress also tried contacting it's counterparts on the other planets in the solar system and after getting no response had gone from passive sensors to the much more accurate active sensors and probes. Its findings were not encouraging. The once powerful palaces and fortresses of the other planets had all been reduced to rubble and the planets themselves uninhabitable. Finding no preprogrammed orders for this situation, the fortress took action on its own._

_It compiled a list of list of life forms and the ecosystems of each of the worlds from the time Fortress Titan had last been active and then with a combination of magic and technology created the genetic materials needed to restore the other worlds to the best of its abilities. It then loaded said items aboard probes along with nanobots enhanced by magic and programmed to repair its sister Fortresses and build from the raw material of the planets, the techno-magic shields needed for each world to sustain life. These probes were then launched and the restoration of the Sol system thus begun._

_Meanwhile, Fortress Titan began to think of a way to contact its inheritor whom it had discovered was alive on Earth along with at least one other member of Titan's Royal family._

Ranma didn't even try reading any of the dozens of notes that had piled up on her desk, far too used such things from her time in Nerima. Used to it or not she was very happy when the bell rung ending her latest class and the start of lunch period. There were no gasps of fear as Ranma-chan exited the class through the window, as the class was on the first floor. Most people just added it to the list of weird things about their newest classmate.

It wasn't until she was looking around for a good tree to roost in to eat her lunch that Ranma realized that she had left home without her bento. With a depressed sigh, she was just about to slump at the base of the only really good tree she notices a really nice smell. She looked down and saw a bento that was being held under her nose. Attached to the bento was a hand, and attached to the hand was an arm that just so happened to be attached to beautiful blond with her hair up in a ridiculous hairstyle that reminded Ranma of the way Shampoo wore her hair.

Sounding like it was the most serious thing in the world, the blond spoke, "Forgot your lunch, huh? I know how that feels. My friend, Mako-chan always makes me some extra. I can share it with you if like. I'm Usagi-chan."

"Thank you," Ranma said accepting the offered bento. "I'm Saotome Ranma, but just call me Ranma," she told her new friend.

Smiling happily, Usagi took Ranma's free hand and led her over to the table where she and her friends were sitting. Ranma was a bit surprised to find that the boy, Haruka was there along with the girl's whose desk he'd been sitting along with the girl who'd led her to her classroom when she'd arrived at school.

Haruka grinned as Ranma took her seat. "Saotome-san, I like for you to met my girlfriend, Kai-o Michiru," she stated with nod indicating the green haired girl, "And these are our friends, Tsukino Usagi," the girl who'd shared her lunch, (making her Ranma's new best friend as far she was concerned) "Mizuno Ami" a slight, shy looking blue haired girl, "Aino Minako" a girl she recognized from a few TV commercials, "Kino Makoto" probably the 'Mako-chan' who'd made the extra lunch for Usagi, thus saving Ranma from starving to death, "Osaka Naru"

Smiling, Naru spoke up, "We met this morning."

"And this is Hino Rei" continued Haruka indicating a long black hair wearing gray uniform instead of the blue of Juban or the green of Mugan.

Noticing the interest in her attire, Rei explained, "I used to go T.A. School for girls."

"Everyone, this Saotome Ranma." Haruka finished her introductions.

"So all you are in different classes?" asked Ranma.

Smiling, Michiru answered, "You, Haruka, and I are all juniors. Usagi and the others are sophomores."

"We're all in the same class, " elaborated Rei, "With all the new students and teachers from Mugan they've been letting a few people slip by. Otherwise, Usagi and Minako would still be first year," she added.

"Hey!" shouted Minako while Usagi made faces and stuck out her tongue. This caused the others to break into laughter, and even Ranma was forced to smile.

As the girls went back to talking, they all made a effort to include Ranma even though she kept her answers short focusing most of her attention on her food. If they noticed that she was eating as fast as Usagi, no one pointed it out so as not to embarrass their new friend. All too soon, lunch was over and it was back to class.

"She _has_ to be the one," Makoto said to the others as they were walking back to class. Naru was walking with Umino so it was safe to talk about the newest senshi now. "She talks, dresses, and acts just like a real boy."

"Well, that makes sense I guess. After all, if she is the one, then as far as she knows, she _has_ _been_ a boy from birth until she was cursed," Ami replied.

"Did you see how she was eating?" Minako asked. "I didn't think anyone could out eat Usagi!"

Nods all around, except from Usagi who's only comment was. "I still say she was stealing my food. I know I had more than that!"

Rei rolled her eyes and sighed, "Usagi, with all of us at the table talking with her, don't you think one of us would have noticed if she was stealing from someone else bento?" she asked.

"What surprised me, was how well she and Haruka were getting along," Makoto confided.

"I'm not too surprised," said Usagi. "Setsuna didn't go into too much detail about his…her personality, but from some of the thing she said, it seems to me that Haruka and Ranma-san have a lot in common. They're both fighters, they're both very competitive, and they act like boys!"

Before more could be said, they had to change the subject as they rejoined by Naru.

Out in space heading toward the Sol system sped an asteroid the size of Earth's moon. It was on the return leg of a journey begun well over a hundred thousand years ago. In fact, it was in the Sol system that its journey had first began. This asteroid was once the planet called Nemesis. However while it was on it's way home, it would be another thousand years before it arrived anywhere near the Earth.

On Nemesis, trapped in a healing sleep since the destruction of the planet, was the being that was partly responsible for the planet's death. In the timeline without Sailor Titan, this being would awaken at full power in about a hundred years and come to cover the Earth with an icy death that very few would survive. That would not be happening now however. For the creature was slowly but surly reviving even now.

_It sensed a familiar energy, the energy of the one that had caused it so much pain. The one that had nearly _destroyed_ it! This shouldn't be! This one should have died in its attempt to kill it, along with everything else it had destroyed in the attempt. But there was no mistaking that energy after being on the wrong end of it and surviving._

_It was the sensing of the energy that was causing it to awaken so much earlier than it had planned. It awakened, not out of fear, but out of a need to utterly destroy the one that had destroyed that beautiful world it had created and caused it so much pain. It would not make the same mistake it had made last time. This time it would send agents. Even as it struggled to fully awaken, it sent small parts of itself, animated and programmed to kill and destroy, to test the power that had awakened it._

_It would have it's revenge!_


End file.
